Saturday, December 31, 2011

Signed up for the Yonge St 10k!

Years ago when I was in shape
Around the Bay 30k

The new year provides most people with an opportunity for reflection on their physical goals. Due to some nagging injuries and other problems I’ve fallen severely out of running condition, but I’m hoping to get back on track, starting today...

I just signed up for the Yonge St. 10k, organized by Canada Running Series (CRS).

A plethora of spring races
The event used to be sponsored by Sporting Life, but that relationship got screwed up, in a sad illustration of how political meddling often results in unintended side effects.

There used to be two fall marathons in Toronto. Some members of council and city staff didn’t like how this disrupted city roads, so political pressure was exerted to move one of the marathons to the spring.

Unfortunately, the date that was chosen -- May 6 -- was the same as the original date for this 10k. That meant the 10k had to move. This wasn’t suitable for Sporting Life, which proceeded to sever the relationship with CRS. The latter organization then decided to hold a run on April 22, while Sporting Life scheduled their own 10k, three weeks later on May 13!

As a runner that’s kind of funny to me, since now there are way more spring races than before -- I hope the short-sighted members of council who opposed two major fall events feel somewhat chastened...

[Note: I’ve glossed over the heated wrangling that occurred between race organizers; see the linked articles at the end for a detailed account. I’ve picked the April race specifically because it works in my calendar. I don’t have any affiliation -- I’m just happy to run, and I hope all the races are successful. Other runners in the community may have stronger feelings, which I can understand.]

Race goal
I’m going to shoot for sub-50 minutes. Anything approaching 45 minutes will be great. I never was a fast runner.

Longer term plan
It’s a modest plan with modest goals, but it’s a lot better than sitting around, so here it is:

Run a 10k in the spring, per above

Run a half-marathon in the fall, and see how that goes (sub 2hrs, shoot for 1:55)

Run a full marathon next spring (or at least the Around the Bay 30k, which has always been my favourite race)

This might seem like a slow ramp up -- why not do a half this spring? -- but I’ve been extremely frustrated with getting injured in the past, not to mention I’m getting a bit on the creaky side what with the climbing, so I’m going to take it easy this time around.

I’ve really missed the running lifestyle. I look forward to getting back into a regular training regime.